


you must be made of copper and tellurium because you are cute

by NaNaNana



Category: Kill la Kill
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-11
Updated: 2014-08-11
Packaged: 2018-02-12 18:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2120751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NaNaNana/pseuds/NaNaNana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Failing chemistry was going to be the least of her worries.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you must be made of copper and tellurium because you are cute

**Author's Note:**

> Tutoring!AU. I apologize for any and all grossly inaccurate chemistry information. I haven’t touched this particular subject in five years and my knowledge is basically everything taken off the internet. Also posted on FF.net.

Slim fingers tapped impatiently against the polished tabletop, pink eyes glaring at the clock that hung on the wall. The seconds ticked by (why was her tutor so _slow_ ) and Nonon huffed agitatedly, fluttering her bangs, as she pushed back to slouch in her chair.

This was so stupid, she thought. It’s not her fault she’s failing chemistry; if her teacher was just even a little more _competent_ , then maybe she could actually learn something. And not be, God forbid, _failing_. She didn’t even understand why she has to take this godforsaken class. She’s not going to need it in life. She wanted to be a musician, not a – a chemist or something.

Her tutor’s late.

She refused to acknowledge that she’s just, in fact, early and that her tutoring session technically wasn’t supposed to start for another five minutes, but weren’t tutors supposed to arrive _early_ or something? To ensure that they wouldn’t miss their tutoree or whatever she is?

God, where was her stupid tutor?

The door to the library creaked open and Nonon didn’t even bother glancing over because it’s probably just another stupid freshman or sophomore or someone who _wasn’t her tutor_. She kept her eyes trained on the clock, watching the second hand slowly (so agonizingly slow) make its rounds. A shadow passed over her and a torso blocked her view of the clock.

“You’re late – _you’re my tutor_?”

“Who else could _possibly_ handle your venom?”

Standing before her, scarf wrapped snugly around his neck and glasses glinting under the fluorescent light, was Inumuta Houka, genius extraordinaire and the one person in this school Nonon didn’t want tutoring her. Anyone else she could easily snark at and scare off, but Inumuta? Having known her since middle school and having been on the end of many snark battles with her, he (unfortunately) wasn’t affected by her bite. Huffing, she crossed her arms under her chest and stared him down.

“Certainly not a puppy.”

“Do you want my help?”

Nonon sighed raggedly, waving a dismissive hand at the spare chair. He pulled it up so that he could drop down next to her, dropping his bag next to one of its legs. Staring at her through blue-tinted glasses (seriously? _Blue-tinted_ glasses?), he held out his hand. She simply stared at it weirdly.

Sighing, he tapped the table with his fingers and said, “Your tests.”

She did so begrudgingly. She’s not proud of her scores – many, many D’s (she maintained that it’s not her fault. It’s her teacher’s), and one C. She didn’t know what to make of the hums he gave but they’re probably judging hums. He’s totally judging her inability to understand the devil’s incarna – chemistry. She meant chemistry (except devil’s incarnate was totally true).

“You really _are_ failing.”

Nonon scoffed. “That’s kind of why I need a _tutor_ , Doggy.”

Sighing, he handed her back her tests and quizzes. “Alright, what do you want me to go over first?”

“Everything,” she answered bluntly, because she really didn’t understand anything. At all. And her midterm was slowly approaching (two months, to be exact, but with the help she needed, it was going to take longer than the two months) and she could not afford another D. Or worse, an F. Which kind of necessitated a tutor and thus, here she was, sitting at a library table with Inumuta.

“Obviously.” Inumuta looked like he’s trying to resist the urge to sigh again. “What are you most confused by?”

“Everything.”

This time he did groan and Nonon considered it a victory of some sorts. Hand coming up to rub tiredly at his temple, he asked, “What are you learning right now? We’ll start from there.”

“Mole calculations,” Nonon answered, nose wrinkling in disgust. If there was one thing she hated more than science, it’s math. Maybe that’s why she despised chemistry so much. It’s a combination of two completely awful things.

For the next twenty minutes, Inumuta tried to explain how to calculate moles but every time Nonon stopped understanding, she made a snarky comment that had Inumuta retaliating with one of his and they just ended up snarking at each other. By the end of forty minutes, all Nonon had understood about mole calculations was that there were numbers, and there were letters.

“So what are moles?”

“Weren’t you listening?” Inumuta grumbled. “A mole is a unit of measurement used to express –”

“If the textbook definition didn’t help the first time, Dog, what makes you think it’ll help now?” Nonon interrupted.

“Fine. Let me somehow simplify it enough for your simple mind to comprehend.”

“Please do.” She’s pointedly ignoring his little jab.

“It’s the mass of an element.”

Nonon blinked. “Yeah, no.”

“Let’s try this another way.” He sighed and loosened his scarf. “A mole is equal to six-point-oh-two-two times ten to the twenty-third power atoms which is also equal to the atomic weight of an element.”

“So,” she drawled, still not comprehending.

“So for example, sulfur.”

“Sulfur,” she repeated.

He pulled out her periodic table and pointed out sulfur for her. “Sulfur has an atomic weight of thirty-two-point-oh-six grams per mole.”

“And?”

“That means for one mole of sulfur, its mass is thirty-two-point-oh-six grams and it has six-point-oh-two-two time ten to the twenty-third power atoms.”

“Uh-huh.” Maybe if she pretended to understand, she wouldn’t have to stay.

“Question. What is the mass of thirty-five silver atoms?”

She should have listened. Too late for that.

She grabbed her chemistry notebook and flipped to a fresh new page, ignoring his amused look no doubt because of all the tiny doodles that mar the margin of the papers. Once she’d scribbled out some numbers, she powered up her calculator. When Inumuta leant over to inspect her work and let out a disapproving click of his tongue, Nonon huffed and threw down her pencil to round a particularly deathly glare on him. “What?”

“What,” he pointed to her paper, “are these?”

“Numbers?”

“Okay, fine. They’re numbers,” he conceded. “But I’m pretty sure the atomic weight of silver _isn’t_ one-two-three-four-point-five-six-seven.”

“It could be,” she defended. “Who’s to say it isn’t?”

Inumuta merely gave her a deadpan stare and asked, “What’s the atomic weight of silver?”

Nonon stared at him like he was stupid. Like she’s supposed to know the atomic weight of silver by heart. What, did he think she memorized the periodic table for fun? He simply arched a brow at her and tapped the chart. Exhaling noisily, Nonon glanced down and let her eyes wander to settle upon silver. She tried to ignore the fact that his finger was settled right on it.

“One-oh-seven-point-eight-seven.”

Inumuta nodded. “And what’s a mole?”

“An animal that digs holes with insanely large claws and is as blind as you are.”

“Very funny. Be serious.”

“But I am serious,” she sang. She’s totally not serious, none whatsoever.

“And I’m some elite hacker with magical robes that enhance said hacking skills,” he replied sarcastically.

“You only wish you could have those mad hacking skills,” Nonon quipped easily.

“I don’t have to wish.”

“Right,” she drawled, leaning forward and resting her chin on her palm. Inumuta remained unamused. Nonon sighed at the deadpan stare he’s giving her and, just so he’ll stop with the look, she erased her numbers to replace them with the correct one. “Here.”

“Finish the problem.”

Nonon pouted. “You’re no fun, Doggy.”

“I’m not supposed to be.”

Nonon spent the next five minutes battling with her calculator and grumbling over the numbers and how much she despised chemistry. More than once, she caught the amused smirk that graced Inumuta’s face. It infuriated her even more than mole calculations. She just wanted to reach over and smack it off his face, preferably with her textbook.

He checked over her work when she finished and drawled, “So you _can_ teach a snake tricks.”

She huffed indignantly and opened her mouth to retort with no doubt a snarky, and completely scathing, remark, except he piled on another twenty problems for her to solve. _And_ he wanted them done before they wrap up.

Nonon left her first tutoring session with an even deeper loathing for all things chemistry and Inumuta Houka.

-.-

Band practice had run late (as usual) and she’s running (more like jogging than sprinting) across campus to reach the library. She held little hope that Inumuta wouldn’t be there, but it was a hope she was going to cling to. Eyes scanning the desks, her hopes rose and then fell upon landing on her tutor.

“You’re late.”

“Well hello to you too, Dog.”

Inumuta reclined back in his chair, arms crossed, and regarded Nonon with a scrutinizing look. Exhaling in exasperation, she dropped her bag onto the table, ignoring the loud impact it made with the varnished wood and the irritated stares she received from the other occupants. She just wanted this to be done and over with.

“Do you remember anything about mole calculations?”

“I doubt I could forget it even if I bleached by mind,” she shot back. She’s not kidding. All she could think about for the days following her first session was mole calculations. She even had nightmares about them.

“Good,” he nodded. “Then you’ll have no problem doing these.”

Nonon stared incredulously at the worksheet he slid over to her. Her eyes darted back up to him, the look of disbelief growing deeper and darker. After a minute of glowering, she sullenly pulled out her pencil and set about solving the worksheet. She instead focused her energy on glaring at the numbers until they swam and then she had to stop to clear her head.

As she worked through the seemingly endless multitude of problems, she found herself focusing less on actually trying to solve them and more on the sounds she was picking up from around her. It was a habit of sorts, she supposed. Or maybe she was slipping into a delayed case of denial. Whatever the circumstances, she shifted her attention towards observing the other people around her.

She picked up multiple sounds of pencil scratching across paper, of pages being turned, and of people humming. A particularly huffy sound made her glance up and she scanned the room for the perpetrator.

She paused on the hunched forms of Sanageyama and Satsuki’s little sister, her previous quest all but forgotten. Curious, she dropped her pencil and instead stared openly. It wasn’t as if they were paying any attention to their surroundings, so the chances of her getting caught were highly impossible.

She couldn’t hear their conversation but from the looks of things, they were in the middle of an argument. As she continued to watch, whatever it was that they were arguing about got both of them particularly heated. Thoroughly intrigued and kind of wishing she was closer, Nonon cupped a hand around her ear to try and pick up their words.

“What are you doing?”

Her eyes darted momentarily to Inumuta. She’s starting to pick up bits and pieces and she returned to staring at the couple before her. Something about a teacher? “Don’t worry, Doggy, I’m done.”

She’s vaguely aware of Inumuta slipping her paper out from under her, but she’s too invested in watching the scene unfold before her to pay any attention to the disbelieving sounds coming from beside her.

“This looks absolutely dismal.”

“Thanks,” Nonon drawled absently. Their argument was coming to a head now and oh, things were starting to get interesting. She leant forward, tossing all appearance of trying to be covert out the window.

“Well, as horrified as I am by your problem solving, you did get them right. So I suppose we can continue with chemical equations.”

Nonon groaned, though she’s not entirely sure if it was aimed at the prospect of having to learn _more_ or at the fact that Sanageyama had just pulled Satsuki’s little sister into a kiss. Was that _tongue_ she just saw? (Oh, that’s disgusting. She’s going to need to bleach her eyes later.)

“Are you going to keep watching or would you like a firsthand experience?”

“Learning chemical reactions would be a lesser evil.” Pulling her gaze away, she shifted in her seat so that Inumuta sat in the way, effectively blocking her line of sight. Except he shifted forward to lean over her textbook and exposed her to the sight of Sanageyama and Satsuki’s little sister still kissing ( _still?_ ). Her nose wrinkled and she shifted again so that he blocked her view once more. “Wipe that smirk off your face or I’ll do the honors of ripping it off myself.”

He held up his hand in a pacifying manner, though his smirk remained. “I can’t believe I’m asking this, but what do you understand about chemical reactions?”

“They’re chemicals and they react.”

“I see we have a lot to do.”

“I see your face needs a lot of work,” she jabbed back.

“Your personality needs work.”

“Yeah, since yours is so scintillating.”

“Large words for a small person.”

“Who can kick your ass with ease.”

The smirk he (still) wore was tinged with amusement, as per usual, but this time, Nonon caught sight of another emotion, hidden behind everything else, before it disappeared. Her mouth snapped shut and she drew back the slightest in apprehension. It’s not the usual derisiveness she’s used to seeing nor is it the bemused yet amused look he’ll wear when he found one of her well placed insults particularly clever. It something different altogether and Nonon couldn’t place it, nor did she like it.

Quietly clearing her throat, she snapped, “Well? Are you going to teach?”

“That’s debatable.”

Even so, he averted his eyes back to the text and began breaking down the fundamentals of chemical reactions. She relaxed and rested her cheek back into an open palm, eyes downcast upon the text before her. She pushed out the thought of Inumuta feeling anything other than amusement towards her and focused her entire attention on taking in the information he was tossing her.

By the end of the session, Nonon’s head swam with numbers and letters and math, none of it making sense. When her head hit her pillow later that night, everything but Inumuta’s gaze flew out her mind.

-.-

Nonon caught Sanageyama by himself when she walked into the library, early for the first time since their first session. Altering her destination, she instead dropped onto the table next to his pile of work, legs kicking up to prop upon a spare chair. His head whipped up to stare at her in surprise.

He should be, she thought. It wasn’t often that she graced him with her presence and the display she had witnessed last week reminded her why she never bothered.

“What do you want, Jakuzure?”

Nonon hummed, taking the lollipop she was sucking out of her mouth with a loud pop. “Why do I need to want anything, Monkey?”

“You have that look in your eyes,” he pointed out warily.

“Oh, pish posh,” she waved away, wagging her sweet in his face. “I merely came to tell you that having to bear witness to you and Lil’ Sis sucking face is not something high on my ‘must see’ list. In fact, it’s not even on my ‘must not see’ list.”

True to form, he sputtered and flushed a deep red, arms thrown up to wildly deny her accusation. Nonplussed, Nonon popped her lollipop back in and grinned rather wickedly. She kicked one of her legs over the other and propped her elbow upon her knee, chin resting in hand.

“I don’t particularly care much for what you and Lil’ Sis get up to,” she continued, spotting Inumuta walking in, “but if you want to get frisky, do it somewhere a little more _private_.”

With that, she slid off the table and slung her bag over her shoulder, leaving Sanageyama still red faced and spluttering. A dull thud could be heard as she walked away and she snuck a glance over her shoulder, smug grin stretching her lips as the sight of Sanageyama’s head well acquainted with the tabletop. When she reached Inumuta, her grin remained and she was smugly twirling her lollipop between her fingers.

“What’s got you so happy?”

“Do I need a reason?”

Inumuta shifted. “If it’s you, then yes.”

Nonon sniffed indignantly, biting harshly into her lollipop, gleeful when it broke in half. “Well, reason you won’t get. Let’s get started.”

“That’s a first,” Inumuta remarked amusedly. That look was back as well. The same look that had haunted her dreams for the past week. The same look that she still can’t place and it’s bugging her to no end trying to figure it out.

“The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can leave,” Nonon announced, turning a blind eye to his gaze. She brought out her latest quiz for him to glance over and she busied herself with unwrapping another lollipop.

Popping the newly unwrapped sweet into her mouth, she tipped back onto the hind legs of her chair. She rocked back and forth, trying to find her center of balance, waiting for Inumuta to finish. Over Inumuta’s shoulder, she caught Sanageyama’s eye and immediately made kissing motions around the stick of her lollipop. They shifted into a smug grin when he flushed and Satsuki’s little sister sent both of them an inquisitive look.

“Pay attention.”

Nonon fell forward, the front legs of her chair making a dull thud as it hit the carpeted floor. It was obvious Inumuta was frowning, even with his scarf covering his mouth, and there was a certain edge to his voice that wasn’t there before. Frustration, she determined, and something else. A different, yet somehow still the same, something that had been in his gaze.

“I would if there _was_ anything to pay attention to.”

“Then I’ll give you something to pay attention to.”

He proceeded to explain where she went wrong and she tried to listen, she did, but her mind kept slipping back to the unplaced emotions so much so that she simply allowed herself to drift away after her innumerable failed attempts to regain focus. She would make noncommittal hums every now and then, hopefully assuaging any doubts he had of her not listening, as she mulled things over.

She got nowhere, in both her studies or in trying to figure Inumuta out.

 -.-

She was finally able to place that look. It was the same look Sanageyama wore before he finally worked up the courage to ask Satsuki’s little sister out. It was the look he _still_ wore whenever looking at her and it was the look she would give him in return. It was also the same look Gamagoori wore around Mankanshoku except she was too dull to even notice.

That could only mean one thing. Inumuta liked her.

Nonon spent the better part of the hour after her revelation fretting over this new piece of information. Not really fretting, per say. She was more bothered (extremely, _extremely_ annoyed) by the fact that she had uncovered this tiny little (insignificant, except it wasn’t) detail.

Inumuta liked her.

It repeated itself, over and over. She tried to push it out of her mind, but it crawled back, each time louder than before until all she could hear and think was “Inumuta likes me”. And when she finally sat down and thought about how to best go about dealing with this, she realized she didn’t know. And that troubled her more than knowing.

Instead of spending sleepless nights trying to make head or tails out of chemistry, she spent them trying to understand her current dilemma. When her next session rolled around, she’d barely gotten more than four hours of sleep, at most, and she still hadn’t quite figured out what to do, which left her in a rather sour mood.

“You vaguely resemble a panda,” Inumuta noted the minute she arrived at what has now become their table.

“Bite me,” she snapped. “Or I’ll wipe your hard drive.”

“Touch my laptop and you’ll suffer a fate worse than death.”

“Try me.”

Inumuta regarded her shrewdly, as if trying to call her bluff. When it seemed that he couldn’t find even a hint that she was lying (she wasn’t), he turned away and had her bring out her latest quiz to go over. She handed it over petulantly, slumping further down in her seat

“Alright,” he finally said after skimming her work, scooting over to place her quiz between the two of them.

He quickly went over what she got right, advising her on easier and simpler ways to go about solving the problems, before tackling the ones she got wrong. And boy, did she get a lot wrong. For some inexplicable reason, she felt embarrassed but shook it off. There was nothing to be embarrassed about. It wasn’t as if Inumuta didn’t already know how depressing her chemistry scores were.

She was tasked with reworking the missed problems while Inumuta observed to ensure she didn’t somehow veer off to some convoluted path. She was proud to say that she didn’t, even if it did take her longer than usual.

The smug smile she wore fell the minute she turned to face him, finding that he’s scooted closer while she was occupied. She was suddenly hyper aware of everything that was Inumuta, from where their arms touched to just how close his knees came to bumping with hers. She could make out his eyelashes (they were really very pretty for a guy) and the slight hazel that dusted the edges of his eyes under certain light. Scowling at where her sudden train of thought was taking her and just at Inumuta in general, she shoved him none too lightly on the cheek.

“I have a need for personal space, Doggy.”

“Wha – hey! Jakuzure!”

She didn’t stop shoving him until he was nearly falling off his chair, one leg still on the seat and the other bent awkwardly on the ground. The only reason he had yet completely sprawl across the floor was simply because of the firm grip he had on the table and on her arm. Her own legs had wrapped themselves like ivy around the legs of her own chair and she refused to budge, so Inumuta hung in the air between chair and floor.

“What are you doing?” he demanded, his grip on her sleeve tightening, trying to pull himself back to an upright position.

“I told you,” she answered, relentless with her attacks, “personal space.”

“That warrants pushing me to the ground?”

“I would have rocketed you to Pluto, but alas, I have no spare rocket on hand, so yes.”

“For the love of alkaline, Jakuzure, I’m not going to jump you.”

Shocked motionless, Nonon stopped shoving long enough for Inumuta to straighten. After a moment, she snapped her mouth shut and gave him one final shove, muttering, “You wish you could.”

She didn’t miss his eye roll or the slight curve of an affectionate smile. That unsettling feeling came back anew and she promptly shoved it away, wanting nothing to do with it. Except it just kept coming back, every time he’d shift in his seat or talk. Or do anything really.

One simple revelation shouldn’t have changed so much, but it did and Nonon hated it. Hated it even more than she hated chemistry. (Actually, chemistry was still number one. She didn’t think anything could top it at this point.)

-.-

He knew.

She knew he knew.

And she knew he knew she knew he knew.

The unsettling feeling she’d get was still present, but it had become rather commonplace that Nonon could ignore it with little to no problem. A good thing, too, because his looks were becoming more and more frequent.

His looks were no longer covert and he’d openly stare at her while she’d work, always a mixture of amusement and awe. He’d always find some excuse to brush up against her, whether it’s to take her work from her or scooting closer because _he had to see what she was doing_. His end of their witty battles now felt like he was openly flirting with her.

Well, two could play at that game.

Every time she’d catch sight of a smile sent her way, she’d send one back, all coy and teasing. She would even add in a wink every now and then, for added measure. Every time he’d brush up against her, she’d do the same right back and linger. She returned his flirty banter with ones even flirtier. It became a game of sorts, seeing who could fluster the other more. (She’s winning. Don’t listen to Inumuta.)

So caught up with their little, unspoken, competition, Nonon forgot one very important thing. Her midterm was coming up.

She came into the library in a flurry of papers and coffee, dropping everything but her drink onto the table. Inumuta glanced up from his book, eyebrows arched questioningly, hand flying out to capture all the loose papers that nearly fluttered to the ground.

“Midterm,” Nonon explained in a clipped tone.

Marking his page, Inumuta set aside his book and picked up one of the papers his hand had come down upon. Upon flipping it over, he picked out the bolded words splashed across the top: **Midterm Study Guide**. Underneath it laid pink scribbles, along the margins and in every inch of free space the eye could see, with phrase such as “what is this?” and “oh god no”.

“When is it?”

“A week.”

“And what would you like to review first?”

Nonon waved a hand at the paper in his hand, taking a large gulp of cooled coffee, nose wrinkling at the bitter aftertaste. She hated cold coffee (not that hot coffee was any better, but she drank it anyways). “Take your pick, Puppy. We have to go through everything anyways.”

Inumuta glanced back down and sighed. “Then let’s get started.”

The first thing he had her work on was the practice test her teacher had handed out.

For the next hour or so, Nonon immersed herself completely into chemistry to the point where she was able to ignore her surroundings, including just about every brush and every look. She worked away, harder than she’s ever done for this particular subject, and found herself tunnel visioning onto the problems beforehand.

She’s quite surprised to find that she actually understood quite a few more questions than she previously assumed. It looked as if she was beginning to retain information. She worked through those problems with relative ease and those that she didn’t understand, she did what she always did and just guessed, muddling her way through.

Finishing off her last calculation before a headache could settle in from focusing too much and too hard, she dropped her pencil and exhaled in relief. Her arms came up, stretching with an almost catlike grace. Her chair tipped back onto its hind legs as she extended her legs out in front of her, completely taut.

Relaxing her tense muscles, the sudden shift in weight tipped the already precariously balancing chair and she found herself falling backwards. Her limbs flew out instantly, windmilling in an attempt to right herself, feet kicking the underside of the table in the process. A hand clamped over her wrist and with a sharp tug, Nonon toppled forward instead. Her chair came down with a thud and unable to stop herself, she crashed into Inumuta, her other hand bracing itself against his chest.

Heart racing from the near acquaintance with the carpeted floor, Nonon drew in a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. Only then was she aware of the fact that Inumuta still had his hand wrapped around her wrist and that she was still leaning against his (very nicely toned and muscular but not quite to either Sanageyama’s or Gamagoori’s point) chest. She could feel the beat of his heart on her fingertips (or was that her heart).

With a start, she jerked away, face flushed a light pink. Except her wrist didn’t come with her, still trapped in Inumuta’s grip, and she stared at it in a mixture of wonder and fear. Coming to her senses, she stammered out, “I need to grab something from the science section.”

Without waiting for a response to her (lame. So lame) excuse, she tugged her wrist free and skittered towards the science sections without actually looking as though she was running away from him. She kept glancing over her shoulders, finding that he bore a confused look on his face as he stared after her. She ducked into an aisle as fast as she could and she didn’t stop until she found herself in the music section. Feeling safer, she leant against the nearest bookshelf.

What was wrong with her?

Inumuta shouldn’t have made her so flustered and feeling like a schoolgirl with a crush. (Well, she was a schoolgirl, but that’s not the point. And she _didn’t_ have a crush.) This was Inumuta, for crying out loud! She should be annoyed, smug, anything but flustered and _shy_. Shy, she thought wryly. Not something one would associate with her. _She_ didn’t even know she could be shy.

One of her hands came up to run wearily across her face and push her bangs out of her eyes. She knew she should have quit while she still had time.

(Okay, so maybe she _did_ have a crush on Inumuta. A _tiny_ one.)

She leant against the bookshelf for a while longer, simply breathing. She could still feel Inumuta’s hand around her wrist, the warmth and the pressure and how his heart had beat under her fingertips. She wondered if she might be able to feel it again. (Alright. Maybe it wasn’t a small crush.)

“This doesn’t look like the science section.”

Nonon jumped, startled, and whirled around to find Inumuta at the end of the aisle. He looked vaguely amused and kind of frustrated, scarf pulled down to expose his mouth. He leant his weight against the bookshelf, arms crossed over his chest.

“I needed a book on music theory.” It was technically true. She _did_ need a book for music theory, but she already had a copy of it sitting at home. He didn’t need to know.

“What about the science book you needed?” he inquired, stalking closer.

Nonon stepped back for every step he took forward and tried to shrug as nonchalantly as possible. “They didn’t have it.”

The skepticism in his hum was palpable.

Nonon soon found herself backed into a corner, Inumuta having steered her in that direction. His arms uncrossed to brace against the shelves next to her head and he leaned in, whispering, “You know what I think, Jakuzure?”

“I don’t particularly care what you think, Doggy.” It came out soft and breathy, not at all snappy or confident like she wanted. 

“I think you’re a load of bull.”

“And you’re full of dog shit.”

“Jakuzure,” Nonon suppressed a shiver at how low his voice had suddenly gotten, “shut up.”

“Excu –”

She barely had time to even feel affronted before he swooped in and pressed a light kiss to her lips. It was quick and short and over far too quickly, but it warmed her cheeks and made her heart flutter all the same.

Blinking, she stared as he pulled away, a light pink dusting his cheeks, and she snickered (Jakuzure Nonon doesn’t giggle). The furrow of his brow and the slight pout his mouth had pulled into at her laughter made him oddly endearing in her eyes and she reached up to cup his cheeks in her hands. There was little resistance when she pulled down for another one.

One of his arms slid to wrap around her waist and tugged her closer, the other still bracing him so that his weight didn’t crush her, forcing her to roll onto her toes just to accommodate him. With a frustrated grumble, Nonon stepped onto his feet to use as extra leverage, hands sliding down to grip at his scarf to steady herself. He grunted but the kisses didn’t stop.

“You’ll get a date if you can pass your midterm with anything higher than a C,” he murmured.

It was Nonon’s turn to utter, “Shut up.”

Like she wasn’t already planning on acing the test (really, she’s trying to aim for anything other than a D), but a little incentive was nice.

-.-

She did pass (with a B. Minus) and as per their agreement (that wasn’t really an agreement), Inumuta took her out on a date.

Maybe chemistry wasn’t so bad.

(She recanted as soon as her next quiz came back with a D. Chemistry was and will always remain the devil’s incarnate.)


End file.
